I'll Be Your Friend
by totheextraordinarykb
Summary: "She thinks to herself: there must be some experiences you go through where, by the end, a perfect stranger is a friend." AU one-shot set during Jane and Maura's high school years, rated T for language.


**_A quick author's note: trigger warning for a crime. Not being too specific since that's not fair for people who want to read this how it was supposed to be read, but just wanted a warning here anyway. You're in the R&I section, so I'm assuming you can handle it, but just in case. No character deaths, I promise._**

* * *

_There is amazing strength in a willing hand_  
_There are victories that you've never planned_  
_There's a hero in everybody's heart_

* * *

As the train rumbles into the station, seventeen year old Jane stands on the edge of the platform. She loves the way the rush of air from the train kicks up her long hair, tossing it in wild patterns. It makes her feel alive to feel the wind. As the doors open, she swiftly enters, walking the rows to find an empty two-person seat on the platform-side of the train. Sliding into the seat, she pulls up her legs and tucks them underneath her cross-legged.

She closes her eyes and leans back. Finally. That's over. Every summer, Ma sends one of the three Rizzoli kids to visit distant relatives, and this year Jane drew the short straw – quite literally. After hours of interrogations on her life, her schooling, her choice to attend the Police Academy after high school graduation, her lack of a love life… after she stood judgment, Jane is thankful to be done. Opening her eyes, Jane glances around the car. Her eyes fall onto the girl in the row across from her.

She was gorgeous. She must be probably the same age as Jane, but the girl's poise and style makes her seem years older. In a light summer dress, with perfectly paired sweater and shoes, the girl possesses the type of effortless beauty Ma always nags Jane about. Her legs are properly crossed, hands gently holding a novel open as she read. As if feeling Jane's eyes on her, the girl looks up and smiles, holding Jane's eyes.

Embarrassed to have been caught, Jane glances down at her own outfit. Plain jeans, her Boston Police Department Cadet tee shirt, sneakers – she was, as always, a mess.

Whatever.

Jane turns to look out the window, waiting for the train to move. And waits, and waits.

When an unusual amount of time passes, she glances at her watch. They're three minutes late to leave the station. That's not right. She pulls out the schedule from her back pocket. Maybe she got the time wrong.

As she's examining the schedule, a gasp sounds from next to her. Jane realizes the perfect girl is staring out the window past Jane onto the platform. Quickly, Jane turns, and sees the barrel of a drawn gun.

The police officer holding it slides smoothly by the window, wearing a bulletproof vest. Jane thinks back to her classes as a cadet to determine the gun's make – a Heckler & Koch MPS. That's a submachine – a gun for a SWAT operation. In other words, this is serious shit, as her training officer would tell her. She shifts closer to the window to see better. If this is an operation, there will be more cops – and she spots them, counting three other cops with their Glocks drawn.

In her head, she calculates. Four cops, just in her sight, and she knows she can only see a quarter of the platform at most, having chosen to sit in the second train car. That's sixteen cops on the platform, at least.

It is an operation, which means there is a target. Her eyes glance around the train car, sizing up the group, applying the training she's learned, looking for suspicious behavior, calculating escape routes and who needs to be protected first.

There's a family in front of her, and the father is looking around as well. When he meets her eyes, his face is concerned, but he smiles weakly. He turns to his oblivious younger daughter, only five at most, and starts to speak lowly to her. His older daughter, no more than ten, is staring ahead. Her eyes are wide, and her hand is wrapped tightly around her thigh. It is clear that she's being brave, but she's terrified. Jane feels a rush of affection – Tommy, about the same age right now, would be the same way – all outward bravery with inward fright.

Leaning forward, she whispers, "Hey". The girl turns. "Stick with me, kid. It'll be all right. You and I, okay? We'll keep an eye out for everyone." She finishes with a wink.

The girl smiles. It reaches her eye, and Jane winks again. "Alright partner. What's your name?"

The girl speaks shyly, "Ashley."

Jane smiles. "Okay, Ash. Eyes forward, partner. Let's do this." She notices the father looking at her gratefully, and she just smiles at him for a moment before resuming her sweep. She sees a man three aisles up, across from her, who looks a little too gleeful to be in this situation. She shifts, anxious, trying to calculate distances between him and the rest of the group. He's closer to the family than she'd like – and he's far too close to /her/.

Jane turns to look at her, not sure why she's so concerned for the perfect girl. She's steely, looking out the window beside her silently, but she's clearly scared. The quicken rise and fall of her chest gives her away.

Jane forces her eyes away from the girl and back around the train. Okay. One suitcase overhead, halfway down the train. Countless backpacks on the seats next to people. But passenger-wise, the one acting most suspiciously is still the man with a grin on his face, looking outside like he's at the circus, not in a potentially dangerous situation. He has a backpack, Jane notes, and she most definitely does not trust him.

She turns her head out the window. What is she looking for? What are the police looking for? She tries to get a clue, and spots a canine unit. Given that, and the guns – she's guessing bomb, but it could be shooter. She thinks to herself that a bomb is problematic on a train because there are just so many people with bags. Inwardly, she hits herself. Jane, guns are fucking problematic too. Anyone with a baggy enough sweatshirt could be packing. And it could be anything, really. She's not on the radio. She's not part of this, and it makes her tap her fingers. Because she wants to be a part of this. That's why she will be entering the police academy next summer after she graduates from high school.

Without anything else to do, she waits and observes, alternating between the window and the passengers. She waits because she's done all she can with these facts, and she needs more.

And she watches as the perfect girl grows more tense, shoulders rising, curling herself into the wall, fingers twitching at the sight of each armed officer. And Jane realizes she doesn't know this girl's name, just keeps thinking of her as 'perfect girl' and theoretically the perfect girl could die and she wouldn't know her name.

Nobody's talking. It seems sacrilegious to do so. Jane rolls her eyes. That's ridiculous.

So Jane breaks the silence.

Leaning across the aisle, she speaks softly. "Hey." The girl turns, startled, before nodding politely. She doesn't speak yet. Jane is not deterred. "Since we seem to be stuck here and all, thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Jane."

"Maura. I'd shake your hand but… I'm afraid I haven't been able to control my sympathetic nervous system."

"What?"

"Sympathetic nervous system. It's what controls our fight-or-flight instinct. I'm trying to say my hands are sweaty."

"Ah. Well, Maura –"

The loudspeakers crackle on. "Everyone, sit down. Do not stand. Do not put your head out the train doors. If you do, you will be interfering with a police investigation. You will be charged. It will not go well for you. Instead, sit down and stay there."

Jane smiles. "Trust the police to state the obvious in the most curt way possible." This is one of the things she loves best about her chosen profession: they don't shy away from anything, and they don't give a damn about impressing people.

The perfect girl – no, Jane thinks, Maura – Maura looks nervous. "Do you think we should do anything else? Like keep our hands up or something?"

Jane laughs at the thought, and then quickly speaks, seeing Maura's offended. "No, look, just stay calm, but look like everyone else. They're looking for people who stand out. And if you put your hands in the air, you'll stand out, trust me. Besides, you've no idea how long this'll take. You don't wanna be holding your hands up for that long." Maura nods, and turns to look back out the window.

Jane sighs, and does the same, figuring the conversation must be over. And it is, for the next ten minutes, until a police officer comes into the train car for the first time, using the plexiglass by the doors for cover. "Okay, everyone," he states authoritatively, his voice carrying by its gravity rather than its loudness, "get down and stay down until we say you can get up."

The passengers slide off their seats and onto the floor. Jane sees the father crouching slightly over his youngest daughter but his older one, Ashley, is pressed against his back. Ignoring the way her legs protest, Jane maneuvers so her leg is under the seat and nudges the girl with her foot, a silent show of support. She feels Ashley grip her ankle tightly, and she's glad she understands.

She closes her eyes, concentrating, trying to hear where the police are, because she can't see any feet yet and she doesn't want to press her face to the ground. There's no sound other than the breathing of her fellow passengers. She opens her eyes and looks the only place she can – across the aisle. Maura is sitting with her legs folded under her properly, so her underwear doesn't show, and Jane has no clue how in the same space she managed to maneuver that way. Maura is looking in Jane's direction, but doesn't seem totally there. She's not smiling and Jane doesn't know why, but it's important that this girl seems okay. She smiles at her and gives her a thumbs-up followed by a shrug. A silent: you okay?

She nods, and offers a small smile back before a noise from the entrance of the car causes both girls to turn towards it. Footfalls. Moments later, three officers pass, all with the submachines she saw earlier, all prepared to shoot.

The sounds of footfalls fade and then disappear, but no call is made to get up, so they stay down, and a minute later, three more officers pass through with a canine unit. After this sweep, the call comes, "Up from the floor. Sit in your seats. Do. Not. Move."

They do. Maura, Jane notices, brushes herself off lightly before she sits down again.

Ashley turns to Jane and says, almost embarrassed, "Thank you."

She smiles back, "You're welcome, Ash. That's what partners are for. You've still got my back, right?" Ashley nods. "Good. Now go check on your dad and sis, okay?" The girl faces forward, curling into her father's side.

When Jane leans back, Maura's looking at her with a strange look on her face. Jane shuffles, uncomfortable that someone's looking at her for that long, and speaks. "Two younger brothers. You learn."

Maura nods and looks forward. The loudspeaker buzzes on again. "We're doing a second sweep." The doors slide shut. "Nobody gets on or off. Nobody talks. Nobody moves." Jane looks at her number one suspect, the man with the backpack, whose grin fades the moment the doors slide shut, and if that's not suspicious…

The man gets up, holding his backpack, and she tenses, ready to spring. Maura sees her body language and starts to speak, but Jane motions, hand too low for the man to see, a cut motion. The message is clear: don't speak. The man walks past Jane and glances at her shirt and then to her face, narrowing his eyes slightly, nostrils flaring. He presses against the window behind Jane, trying to see the cops, before walking back into his seat.

She doesn't trust him. Why did he bring his bag with him? Nobody's gonna steal shit from you right now. You bring your bag with you, you've got stuff you're hiding in that bag. And his look when he saw the BPD shirt was one of disgust.

No, she doesn't trust him at all.

Maura is still looking at her with this concerned glance and Jane realizes she has no clue about the predicament they're in. She needs protection, Jane thinks, and in a second, she's slid across the aisle, into the empty seat next to Maura.

Jane smiles at the shocked Maura, and then gets Ashley's attention and gives her a wink and a mouthed, "I've still got your back, partner," with a thumbs-up. The girl returns it, and Jane recalculates her strategies. Leaning into the aisle, she can tell with a leap she would be able to cover Ash, better than she could before. But if she's taking cover, she won't be able to see when to leaap. Ashley's still looking at her, and she points to her father. Tapping her dad's shoulder, Ashley points to Jane. Jane mimics a switching motion, and the dad considers, notices the logo on her shirt, and complies. Okay. The father will cover the girls in all but the worst-case scenarios now, and if she has to leap, she still can.

Maura's next to her now, that's easier for protecting her. Taking him down – if it is him, and Jane is becoming increasingly sure it is – will be harder and will require a point blank run, but if that's what it takes, that's what it'll take.

She can't see his hands now, and that worries her.

Maura shifts in the seat next to her. Jane points to her lips and speaks silently, just moving her lips. "Can you read my lips?" Maura nods, hesitates, and raises a hand in a "kind of" motion. Jane continues, pointing down the seat as she speaks, "Better location to," she indicates sight, "see," waves her hand in a circle, "everything.". Maura nods. She gets it.

Jane thinks to herself, as she watches the man look down at something in his lap, that this is most decidedly not a better location to see. But it is a better location to keep Maura safe.

He leans over into the aisle, looks down the train. Jane copies him. The passengers in the car in front have their hands in the air, and she cracks a knuckle in preparation. If it's this guy – it's about to happen.

Maura grabs Jane's hand and holds it. Jane looks at her, shocked. Maura taps the knuckle that Jane just cracked and shakes her head, mouthing, "Don't do that." Jane rolls her eyes, but complies, doesn't crack another. Maura keeps holding her hand though, and Jane thinks to herself that it is rather nice having the human contact.

Well, it would be nice. If it weren't for the fact that guy is definitely doing something in his seat and she can't see a damn thing. He keeps glancing down, and then at the car ahead of them. He whips around once and notices Jane staring. He shoots her a glare, daring her to keep looking, and just Jane stares right back. He breathes angrily once before renewing his efforts.

The door to the train car opens, and the cops pour through. Jane counts as they enter: eleven, all armed, drawn, and in vests. The first cops say something to a few passengers, and they raise their hands. The first officer finishes that row, and the next row raises their hand. Most of the other passengers now have raised their hands in preparation, and Jane slides her hand out of Maura's grasp, indicating that she should raise hers as well.

The man hasn't raised his. He's not alone, but he's increasingly becoming the only person to not comply. It will become clear that he's suspicious as the cops continue to sweep. Evidently, he thinks the same thing as he raises one hand, but keeps the other down. It's not obvious that only one's up unless you're looking for it, but Jane is. She tenses.

The cops are two rows away.

The thought flashes through her mind: this could get ugly.

She takes a deep breath, runs through her immediate plan. Get Maura down and as close to the wall as possible. Then hit the floor and watch the ground by putting your face on the floor.

Maura, then find his location.

She can do this.

The guy turns slightly and looks at her, sees her still watching, and sneers, before turning forward. Jane pushes Maura down as the man lifts the gun so it just barely clears the seat, and takes aim at the first officer. Maura hits the floor as the shot rings out, and Jane hears the officers yell, "Everybody down! Hands on your head!"

She's down too. With her legs, she maneuvers Maura so her head is close to the wall and slightly under the seat too. Then she presses her face on the ground as much as she can, checking Ashley. She's over the five year old and the father's over them both. They're covered well enough. A second shot is fired. Where is he? She scans. He's down too, but crawling under the seats, towards them. He fires two more shots down the aisle, but he's done. The officers will have him in seconds. And she smiles as he sees her, because the dirtbag is going to pay.

He glares, moves the gun in front of him, and he's going to shoot, so Jane dives towards Maura. She lands in such a way no bullet will reach her, and she hears three shots but she doesn't see who fired what because she landed face down. She shifts, turning to try and see where he is, what's happening, and she watches as the guy is pinned, and his hands are cuffed behind his back. The perp is lifted to his feet, and a cop calls out, "Okay, everybody, you can get up now."

Jane shifts onto the seat, pulling Maura as she goes. "You're okay?" Maura nods. "Good." Jane turns to the family, and Ashley's already looking at her. "All good, partner? You and your pa and your brother?"

Ashley smiles, and speaks loudly and confidently for the first time. "Yes partner!"

Jane smiles, the first real, broad smile she's given since she boarded the train, and gives Ashley another thumbs-up. "You rock. Best partner ever."

Jane scans. Everyone seems to be up and okay, nobody's screaming, no one's hurt. A woman seven rows back is shaky, but her neighbor's talking to her and that seems to be working. So it's not a medical case. Next to her she hears a shaky exhale of her name, "Jane…"

She turns to Maura, and the girl is staring at Jane's leg.

She looks down to see the jean torn and a bullet graze. "Huh." Jane doesn't even feel it, but she's heard about this happening before, adrenaline making cops not realize they're wounded. But she's fairly certain it's a graze, so she tries to track the bullet path, and looks behind her to make sure nobody got hit – and sees the bullet embedded in the leg of the row behind them. Hands on her legs bring her back to attention. Maura is moving her, pulling Jane's leg up onto the seat, and shifting her body so she's leaning against the window.

Maura deftly rips the jeans open further and lightly traces the wound. "It's only lightly bleeding, so it didn't nick an artery or a vein. I'm going to put pressure on it until EMS arrives," and she shrugs off her sweater.

"Maura, come on, no! That thing looks like it costs a hundred bucks. You can't do that. Just wait for EMS. It doesn't hurt."

"250 dollars, actually, and I certainly can do this. It's not sterile, but it'll have to do." She looks at Jane's face. "This isn't going to be pleasant, even if it doesn't hurt yet," and she bunches the fabric before gripping it tightly against the wound. Jane's face goes white, but she holds back any signs of weakness.

A cop is walking the aisles, and Maura waves to him. "We need EMS." The cop calls for medics over the radio, and not a minute later two enter. Maura speaks to them without hesitation. "Female, late teens, A & O by 4, with a bullet graze. The bleeding is controlled with direct pressure, so not a venous or arterial bleed. No vital signs obtained, but I detected no other problems."

Jane stares at her. Who is this girl who knows medical terms? As Maura backs away to let the paramedics have access, Jane's mind is flooded with questions. But as the paramedics help her to her feet and to the gurney parked outside the car, Jane's last worry is that she'll never see Maura again.

Jane tries to protest when the medics begin to wheel her away, but they insist on moving quickly. Twice they have to push her back onto the gurney when she tries to swing her legs off. Unable to muster a third effort, Jane tries to find Maura's eye. She finds her, still on board the train. Maura looks at Jane for a moment, then down to the sweater she holds in her hand, covered with Jane's blood. And she makes a decision, darting out of the train behind Jane. "I'm her friend," she calls. Maura is surprised that she's not having a reaction, but she thinks to herself there must be some things you go through where a perfect stranger is a friend by the end. And with the way Jane's grinning at her… Maura speaks again. "I'm her friend. Can I come with you?"

The paramedics look at Jane and she nods solemnly. "I'll be a much better patient if you give me company. I swear. No more climbing off of gurneys."

The allure of a good patient is just too satisfying, and they nod. After Jane's gurney is loaded, Maura climbs into the rig behind her.

During the ride to the hospital, she finds Jane's hand and gives it a squeeze. Jane squeezes back.

* * *

_Sometimes in our lives_  
_We all have pain, we all have sorrow_  
_But if we are wise_  
_We know that there's always tomorrow_

* * *

**Author's Note: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles. I don't own the two songs referenced either. The first is "There's a Hero" by Billy Gilman and the second is "Lean on Me" by Bill Withers.**

**This is my first time publishing for R&I. Back in season one I wrote a few stories but never got the nerve to publish. But if you follow me on tumblr, you'll know that this story is somewhat autobiographical for me. As I took the train back, I typed out half of this story and finished the second half today. HEY FUN GAME: pick out the parts that are fact and the part that are fiction. :) Leave your guesses in the reviews and I promise I'll tell you.**

**Be kind, my dear readers. I haven't gotten the voices perfect. But at the same time - let me hear it! What can I do better? What lines jarred you? What did you love? What did you hate? Only way I'll get better is with YOUR help. Thank you for reading!**


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